CTNF 18/842,543 CTNF 82560 DETAILED ACTION 1. This action is in response to the election filed on 4/27/28. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Election/Restrictions 08-25-01 AIA 3. Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 1, figures 1-7 (claims 1-2, 6-9, 12, 14, and 18) in the reply filed on 4/27/26 is acknowledged. Claim Objections 07-29-01 AIA 4. Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 9 recites “a power storage unit” should be replaced with “the power storage unit” . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-01 6. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites the limitation “the other one of”. It is unclear to what is being “the other one”. Notes: previously, merely recites “a pair of input and output terminals”. Claim 9, recites the phase “in an event of a fault at a power storage unit connected to the fuse, into the fuse from other healthy power storage units ”. It is unclear to what it meant by “into the fuse from other healthy power storage unit”. Claims 2, 8, 12, 14, and 18 are rejected due to their dependency of claim 1. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 7. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-08-aia AIA (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15 AIA 8. Claim s 1 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Chalasani et al. (US 6304059) . Regarding claim 1 : Chalasani et al. disclose a power control system (i.e. figure 2) , comprising: an energy storage system (i.e. system of 200) to store a direct-current power input via a pair of input and output terminals (i.e. terminals of 217, 219) as an energy, and output the energy via the pair of input and output terminals (i.e. terminals of 217, 219) ; and a power converter (i.e. 230, 235) connected between an alternating-current power system (i.e. system includes 205, 210, 215) and the pair of input and output terminals (i.e. terminals of 217, 219) of the energy storage system (i.e. system of 200) , wherein the energy storage system (i.e. system of 200) includes a plurality of power storage circuits (i.e. 240, 220, 245, 225) which are connected in parallel between one of the pair of input and output terminals (i.e. terminals of 217, 219) and the other one (i.e. terminals of 230, 235) of the pair of input and output terminals (i.e. terminals of 217, 219) , wherein the power storage circuit (i.e. 240, 220, 245, 225) includes: one or more power storage units (i.e. 220, 225) ; and a protection circuit (i.e. 240, 245) provided in correspondence with a power storage unit (i.e. 220 and 225) among the one or more power storage units (i.e. 220, 225) , the protection circuit (i.e. 240, 245) being connected between the power storage unit (i.e. 220, 225) and the power converter (i.e. 230, 235) , wherein in an event of an anomaly (i.e. event anomaly when controller open switch 240, 245) at corresponding the power storage unit (i.e. 230, 235) , the protection circuit (i.e. 240, 245) electrically disconnects (i.e. open 240) the power storage unit from the power converter (i.e. Col. 8) . Regarding claim 6 : (i.e. figure 2) further comprising a control device (i.e. 250) to monitor states of the one or more power storage units included in each of the plurality of power storage circuits (i.e. 220, 225) , wherein when the control device (i.e. 250) detects an anomaly at one power storage unit (i.e. 220, 225) among the one or more power storage units, the control device (i.e. 250) transmits command information (i.e. from 250) , for electrically disconnecting (i.e. open switch 240, 250) the one power storage unit (i.e. 240, 245) from the power converter, to the protection circuit (i.e. 240, 245) corresponding to the one power storage unit (i.e. 220, 225) (i.e. Col. 6, lines 50 through Col. 8) . Regarding claim 7 : (i.e. figure 2) wherein the power storage unit includes: a plurality of power storage elements (i.e. multiple batteries of battery string) ; and a signal communication unit (i.e. unit for 260, 265 and from 250) to obtain state signals indicating states of the plurality of power storage elements (i.e. multiple batteries of battery string) , wherein the signal communication unit (i.e. unit for 260, 265 and from 250) calculates a representative value representing the states (i.e. battery state) of the plurality of power storage elements (i.e. multiple batteries of battery string) , based on the state signals (i.e. from 260, 265) of the plurality of power storage elements (i.e. multiple batteries of battery string) , and transmits the representative value to the control device (i.e. 250) , and the control device (i.e. 250) detects a presence or absence of an anomaly at the power storage unit (i.e. 220, 225) based on the representative value (i.e. Col. 6, lines 50 through Col. 8) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 9. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. 07-21-aia AIA 10. Claim s 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chalasani et al. (US 6304059) in view of Yun (US 20140079960) . Regarding claim 8 : Chalasani et al. disclose the limitation of the claim(s) as discussed above, but does not specifically disclose the protection circuit is configured of a fuse and a switch which are connected in series. Yun discloses battery system (i.e. figure 5) comprising the protection circuit (i.e. 230) is configured of a fuse (i.e. 236) and a switch (i.e. 233) which are connected in series. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to modify the circuit of Chalasani et al.’s invention with the system as disclose by Yun to increase the efficiency of the battery system. Regarding claim 9 : Chalasani et al. disclose the limitation of the claim(s) as discussed above, but does not specifically disclose when a current greater than or equal to a threshold flows through the fuse, the fuse is blown out, the threshold is less than or equal to a current value of a fault current that flows, in an event of a fault at a power storage unit connected to the fuse, into the fuse from other healthy power storage units, and the threshold is greater than the current value of the fault current that flows into the fuse from the power storage unit in an event of a fault at a first busbar connecting the one of the pair of input and output terminals and the power converter. Yun discloses battery system (i.e. figure 5) comprising when a current (i.e. current of 236) greater than or equal to a threshold flows through the fuse, the fuse is blown out (i.e. function of fuse 236) , the threshold (i.e. rated current of the fuse) is less than or equal to a current value of a fault current (i.e. fault current that blown out the fuse) that flows, in an event of a fault at a power storage unit (i.e. 230) connected to the fuse, into the fuse from other healthy power storage units (i.e. figure 6: shows multiple protection unit 230 and battery 220) , and the threshold is greater than the current value of the fault current that flows into the fuse (i.e. 230) from the power storage unit (i.e. 220) in an event of a fault at a first busbar (i.e. 20) connecting the one of the pair of input and output terminals and the power converter (i.e. converter that connects to battery system) (i.e. ¶ 84-85 and 95-99) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to modify the circuit of Chalasani et al.’s invention with the system as disclose by Yun to increase the efficiency of the battery system . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 11. Claim s 2, 12, 14, and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion 12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NGUYEN TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1269. The examiner can normally be reached Flex: M-F 8-7. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Lewis can be reached at 571-272-1838. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Nguyen Tran/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/842,543 Page 2 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/842,543 Page 3 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/842,543 Page 4 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/842,543 Page 5 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/842,543 Page 6 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/842,543 Page 7 Art Unit: 2838 Application/Control Number: 18/842,543 Page 8 Art Unit: 2838
Prosecution Insights